writer, editor, modernist, and geek

Writer Wednesday: Mercedes M. Yardley talks Beautiful Sorrows

There is a place where sorrows pile up like snow and rest in your hair like cherry blossoms. Boys have wings, monsters fall in love, women fade into nothingness, and the bones of small children snap like twigs. Darkness will surely devour you–but it will be exquisitely lovely while doing so.

Mercedes M. Yardley’s Beautiful Sorrows is an ephemeral collection encompassing twenty-seven short tales full of devastation, death, longing, and the shining ribbon of hope that binds them all together.

I was pleased to get a chance to interview my friend Mercedes M. Yardley about her new collection, Beautiful Sorrows. She kindly answered a few lingering questions I had about Las Vegas, writing horror, and vegan cooking:

1. How has living in Las Vegas affected the kind of stories you want to tell?

MMY: Vegas helped introduce me to a different dark side of humanity than I saw in my home town. Of course we had a lot of the same issues there, but everything was on such a personal level. If somebody was hurt or arrested or killed, it affected the entire area. It’s much more nameless here in Vegas. Sometimes I feel like I’m practically stepping over dead bodies on my way to the grocery store. It makes me want to explore the more anonymous, detached aspect of horror.

2. What’s the most beautiful thing about writing horror?

MMY: I think the beauty is in the fact that horror is universal. We all experience fear. We’re all afraid of something. Maybe it’s ghosts, or monsters or men. We’re afraid of losing our children or being brutally rejected. There isn’t a person alive who doesn’t feel fear. You can’t say that about empathy or love. Our vulnerability makes us similar, and that is beautiful.

3. What was the easiest part of writing the stories in this collection? What was the hardest?

MMY: The easiest part was the writing. Writing is such a joy. The hardest part was the writing. Writing can be such a struggle. Some stories came very easily. “Edibility” and most of “Stars” just flowed. But “Black Mary”, which I think is one of the strongest stories in the collection, was certainly difficult for me. It was originally published in Robert Duperre’s The Gate 2, and I think I may have apologized when I turned it in. I’m very proud of the story now, but it took a bit of a toll on me. The same with “The Quiet Places Where Your Body Grows”, which is another favorite.

4. You’ve often talked about being a very visually oriented person. Do you see the imagery in your head before it gets written into your stories, or do you have to imagine what your stories would look like after you’ve constructed the plot?

MMY: Usually I sit and write without any idea of the plot, or maybe just a starting idea. “A girl is destined to be murdered” was the idea for one novel, and I uncovered the rest of the story chapter by chapter as I wrote it. Then I can imagine it. My current WIP, though, came as a very clear image. I was listening to Placebo’s “Follow the Cops Back Home” while driving, and I saw this scene where two weary people, a man and a woman, were having a conversation in the middle of a country lane. Whatever it was about, it was broken. Finished. Whatever happened was more than they could bear. Then they slowly started walking back home. The entire novel sprang from that idea. In fact, Azhar from “The Quiet Places Where Your Body Grows” may be the man in this scenerio. I’m not sure yet.

5. How do you find time to write between raising three children, taking care of the house, being active in your community and church, and – one assumes – occasionally sleeping?

MMY: Sleeping is the first thing to go. Absolutely. It difficult to find the time, and right now I’m busier than I’ve ever been in my life. I want to sleep, and I want to laze around and watch TV. But do I want it more than writing? Would it fulfill me more as a person to get a few more episodes of D. Gray-man in there? It’s about priorities. My family is absolutely a priority. My faith is absolutely a priority. Writing is a priority, and my husband is great to watch the kids and let me write. Some of the other stuff can fall. I take turns. Today the house sparkles and I got some great writing related projects finished, but I haven’t started dinner yet. And most likely won’t. Peanut butter was created for a reason.

6. You recently started cooking more vegan meals around the house. What’s your favorite recipe?

“We all experience fear. We’re all afraid of something. Maybe it’s ghosts, or monsters or men. We’re afraid of losing our children or being brutally rejected. There isn’t a person alive who doesn’t feel fear. You can’t say that about empathy or love. Our vulnerability makes us similar, and that is beautiful.”

That sums it all up. Great lines and lovely interview. Thank you, ladies!